Javelinas are Reclaiming their Arizona Homeland

 

by Pa Rock

Former Arizonan

(This much I know:  When the last drop of public water touches the ground in Arizona, it will land on a golf course - probably in Scottsdale.  Pa Rock)

I moved out of the Phoenix area, a patch of desert that I routinely refer to as the "Valley of Hell," almost a decade ago and returned to the far more seasonal (and greener) Missouri Ozarks.  But many of my friends did not have the option of fleeing the sand fleas and dust storms of the Scorpion State, and have instead had to maintain their brown yards and sun-baked lifestyles.  Central Arizona had some rain last year (2022), enough presumably to keep living conditions tolerable, but this summer things were back to being unbearably inhumane with the Phoenix area hitting - and often surpassing - 110 degrees F. on fifty-four separate days.  That's hot, and it's brutal.

The harmful effects of the prolonged heat and drought are not limiting themselves to just the human population of the western desert states like Arizona;  the severe conditions are also affecting wildlife.  This week there have been several stories in the press regarding "squadrons" of javelinas (animals similar to wild hogs and sometimes referred to as "skunk pigs") ravaging some of Arizona's more exclusive and pristine golf courses.  (Golf is one of the state's economic engines.  The Arizona Alliance for Golf states that golf has a $6 billion impact on the state's economy and is responsible for only two percent of the state's daily water use.)

In 2021 the state's major newspaper, The Arizona Republic, published research which said that the state's 219 golf courses consumed an average of 450,000 gallons of water each day.  (Some sources are suggesting that after this terribly hot summer that the amount of water being used on the state's golf courses is considerably higher than it was when the Republic's research was published two years ago.)    The courses are watered in the evening hours when there is less opportunity for the water to evaporate before it soaks into the ground.  The unusually wet conditions combined with the coolness of evening attract the javelinas who suck up what moisture they can as they root through the golf greens with their snouts in search of grub worms.   The grub worms are also benefitting from the added moisture provided by the golf course sprinkler systems, and thus make a juicier treat for the javelinas.

The Seven Canyons Golf Course in Sedona has been particularly hard hit.   Last year the area had eighteen inches of rainfall and the javelinas were not a problem for the golf course.  This year,  however, has been much drier with the Sedona area receiving less than two inches of rain so far - and the javelinas are struggling to meet their basic survival needs.  Maintenance officials at the golf course in Sedona say that their property is being invaded by a hundred to a hundred-and-fifty hungry and thirsty javelinas per night.

Javelinas are a protected species and the people in charge of the golf courses can't just order them to be shot, so they are trying to come up with environmentally-friendly ways to keep the pests off of the pampered landscapes. Five years ago was another severe drought year and the javelinas were a problem at the Sedona golf course that year, too.   The maintenance crews sprayed coyote pee on the greens thinking that would scare the javelinas away, but it turned out they liked the pee and it only served to increase their voraciousness.   The manager of the club says that the coyote pee was like "adding bacon bits to their salad," and they ran amuck tearing up the greens.

Now the maintenance people at Seven Canyons are experimenting with chili oils, but so far have not come up with a concoction that the skunk pigs find offensive or distasteful.

Meanwhile, a growing number of social media posters - people who apparently do not play golf in Arizona - seem to be "rooting" for the javelinas.  It was, after all, their land first.

Go hawgs!  Woo, pig, suey!